Soap dispenser



Aug. 5, 1969 H. RASMUSSEN 3,459,343

SOAP DISPENSER Filed 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnvehfor BY HOLGER RASMUSSENf 4 YS,

5, 1969 H. RASMUSSEN 3,459,343

' SOAP DISPENSER Filed S- 1957 n 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 FIG. 6

Aug. 5, 1969 H. RASMUSSEN SOAP DISPENSER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 24,1967 FIG. 5

FIG. 8

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United States Patent 3,459,343 SOAP DISPENSER Holgcr Rasmussen, 2 Cheminde Primerose, Lausanne, Switzerland Filed Aug. 24, 1967, Ser. No.663,154 Int. (31. B6511 47/00; B67!) 7/24; 367d /38 US. Cl. 222-477 1Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE There is disclosed a soap dispenserincluding a housing having a supply of powdered soap therein, a slidedisposed below the powdered soap, which slide may be drawn from a firstposition in which it is filled by a charge of soap falling from thesupply thereof, into a second position in which the charge of soap isemptied into a distributing orifice, resilient structure tending toreturn the slide into its first position whenever it is shiftedtherefrom, and timing mechanism preventing the return of the slide fromits second position back into its first position until the expiration ofa predetermined period of time following the dispensing of a charge ofsoap.

The present invention relates to soap dispensers, and particularly tosoap dispensers including mechanism causing a predetermined timeinterval between dispensing operations of the soap dispenser.

It is an important object of the present invention to provide a soapdispenser comprising a housing having thereon a supply of soap inpowdered form, a slide mounted in the housing below the soap supply andmovable from a first position wherein it is filled by a charge of soapfalling from the soap supply to a second position in which the charge ofsoap is emptied into a distributing orifice, resilient means urging theslide from the second position back into the first position whenever itis shifted away therefrom, and timing mechanism connected to said slideand preventing the return thereof from the second position into thefirst position until after the lapse of a predetermined period of time,thereby to assure that only a single charge of soap is dispensed duringthe predetermined period of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a soap dispenser of thetype set forth wherein the timing mechanism is a pair of suction cupsmounted respectively upon the housing and the slide, the suction cupsserving to hold the slide in the second position when engaged and havingan orifice that bleeds air thereinto at a predetermined rate, thus toprovide a timing of the release of the suction cups from each other.

In connection with the foregoing object, another object of the inventionis to provide an adjustment for the orifice, thereby to adjust the timeinterval during which the slide is held in the second or dischargeposition thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a soap dispenser of thetype set forth a push rod for the slide that is readily available to auser for moving the slide between the first and second positionsthereof.

These and other objects of the present invention, together with itsnumerous advantages, will be apparent from the following description ofa preferred embodiment thereof, taken with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a soap dispenser made inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the soap dispenser of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the soap dispenser of FIGS. 1 and 2;

3,459,343 Patented Aug. 5, 1969 FIG. 4 is a view in vertical sectionalong the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view with certain portions broken away andshowing the parts in the dispensing position thereof;

FIG. 6 is a view in vertical section along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a view in horizontal section along the line 77 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 8 is a view in horizontal section along the line 88 of FIG. 4.

The illustrated device comprises a plastic housing consisting of twopieces or parts 1 and 2, piece 1 being designed to be attached to a wallby its rear side 1a, and the other piece 2 being removably bolted to thepiece 1 by means of a lock 3. The part 1 has on its lower face a snoutor discharge 4 creating a hopper 4 by which the soap that has previouslybeen abstracted from a cartridge 5 (preferably formed of plastic) isdispensed to the user by the actuation of a control handle 6, as will bedescribed in the following.

The level of soap in the cartridge 5 may be checked by observationthrough a window 7 arranged in the wall of part 2 of the device (FIGS. 1to 3). This cartridge 5 is attached by its lower part which has theshape of a truncated pyramid, to two tubes 8 and 9, projecting to thebottom of a recess 10 having a shape corresponding to that of the lowerend of the cartridge 5, the member in which is formed the recess 10being supported by the upper surface of an intermediary enclosure 11placed on a board .12 which is attached to the bottom of the body ofthis device by two parallel laths 13a and 13b (FIGS. 6 and 8). Thisboard 12 has an aperture 12a arranged in alignment with the passage 11aof the enclosure 11 by which the soap powder contained in this enclosure11 can descend by gravity through the aperture 12a into a slot 14a whichis created by a slide 14 mounted slidingly within the seat defined bythe laths 13a and 13b, the board 12 and the bottom of the body part 1 ofthe apparatus.

The slide 14 is constituted by a rectangular board having on its rearside a lug 15a providing a support for a suction cup 15. The slide 14 isable to occupy two distinct position illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, i.e.,a first retracted or charging position, in which the slot 14a is alignedwith the passage 11a of the enclosure 11, and a second advanced positionor discharging position (FIG. 5) which this slot 14a extends above theopening of the snout 4.

The slide'14 is acted upon by two springs 16a and 16b attached at bothsides of the suction cup 15 around a common axis 16 extending betweenthe wings of a stirrup 17 integral by its intermediary part with avertical board 18 attached on the enclosure 11.

One of the ends of the springs 16a and 16b bears against a strip 17a ofthe stirrup 17 and the other end against the lug attached to the foot ofthe suction cup 15. These springs 16 and 17 tend to maintain the slide14 in its retracted position (FIG. 4) or to return it there in case thatit has been shifted to its discharge position (FIG. 5)

Arranged opposite the suction cup 15 and mounted upon the housing part 1is another suction cup 19, the suction cup 19 including a tubular piece19a having a passage therethrough within which is disposed an adjustablemetal valve 19b. By moving the metal valve 19b inwardly and outwardlywith respect to the passage in the tubular piece 19a, the rate of flowof air through the passage in the piece 19a may be adjusted.

When the slide 14 is in the charging position illustrated in FIG. 4, thesuction cups 15 and 19 are spaced away from each other, but when theslide 14 is moved to the discharge position thereof illustrated in FIG.5, the suction cups 15 and 19 are pressed firmly one against the other.The suction cups 15 and 19 are formed of rubber or other suitableelastic material and therefore compress and serve to force the air fromtherebetween in a well-known manner; once the suction cups 15 and 19have been firmly pressed together, they will be held in that position bythe pressure of the atmosphere acting on the outer surfaces thereofuntil such time as the chamber formed therebetween has admitted theretosufficient air. The only source of air for admission to the chamberbetween the suction cups 15 and 19 is through the passage in the piece19a, and the flow of air through the passage is in turn controlled bythe position or adjustment of the valve 19b therein. Depending upon theposition of the valve 19b, sufiicient air is admitted into the chamberbetween the suction cups 15 and 19 after a predetermined time intervalso that the springs 16a and 16b can move the slide 14 and the attachedparts from the discharging position illustrated in FIG. to the chargingor retracted position illustrated in FIG. 4.

The rate of admission of air into the chamber between the suction cupsand 19 is adjustable as explained above by adjusting the valve 19b.Accordingly it is possible to adjust the time that the slide 14 is heldin the discharge position illustrated in FIG. 5 before the returnthereof to the charging position illustrated in FIG. 4. During thispredetermined time interval, the user can obtain only a single charge ofsoap, which charge of soap should be adequate for the washing operation,whereby the user is discouraged from needlessly wasting soap by amultiple actuation of the slide 14.

The control of the shifting of the slide 14 from its positionillustrated in FIG. 4 into that illustrated in FIG.

5 is effected as described by the displacement of the handle 6 from theright to the left side in FIG. 4 against two springs a and 20b attachedaround the axis 16, as are the springs 16a and 16b. These springs 20aand 2% at one end bear against an arm of the strip 17a of the stirrup 17and at the other end bear against a bar 20 (FIGS. 4 and 7) integral witha push rod 21 to which the handle 6 is attached. The push rod 21 isformed by a strip cut in the shape of a U in the opening of which thelug 14a of the slide 14 is engaged.

From the above description, it may be understood that the movement fromright to left (FIG. 5) of the handle 6 produces a correspondingdisplacement of the slide 14 into its position illustrated in FIG. 5,and that the slide 14 tends to be maintained in this position by theaction of the suction cups 15 and 19, even if the handle and the pushrod 21, which is associated with it, are returned to the right by theaction of the springs 20a and 20b.

A second actuation of the handle 6, when the two air suction cups 15 and19 are attached to each other, could not do else but maintain the cupsstuck together and delay the instant when the slide 14 is able to returninto the position of FIG. 4 to receive a new charge of soap powder.

It will be mentioned also that in order to enhance the flow of thepowdered soap into the intermediate enclosure 11, the tubes 8 and 9 havetheir lateral surfaces cut off in 8a and 9a (FIG. 6). In a complementaryway,

the bottom of the recess 10 of the enclosure 11 is pierced by smallopenings 10a surrounding the tubes 8 and 9.

The volume of the enclosure 11 is sized in order to create a reserve ofpowder corresponding to or charges for the slide 14.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be thepreferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood thatvarious changes and modifications may be made therein and it is intendedto cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications.

What is claimed is:

1. A manually operable soap dispenser comprising a housing having in theupper portion thereof a powdered soap storage compartment and having inthe lower portion thereof a soap discharge opening, a slide mounted insaid housing below said compartment and slidably movable between acharging position and a discharging position, said slide in the chargingposition thereof being disposed below said compartment for receiving acharge of soap therefrom, said slide in the discharging position thereofbeing in registry with said discharge opening to discharge the charge ofsoap therethrough, first means resiliently urging said slide into thecharging position thereof, a manually operable handle slidably mountedin said housing and movable between a first position and a secondposition, said handle in the first position thereof being in position toengage said slide when said slide is in the charging position thereof,said handle while engaging said slide being manually movable from itsfirst position to its second position to move said slide from itscharging position to its discharging position, second means resilientlyurging said handle into the first position thereof, and timing mechanismmounted in said housing and operatively connected to said slide andoperative to hold said slide in the discharging position thereof againstthe action of said first resilient means for a predetermined timeinterval after sliding movement of said slide to its dischargingposition, said handle being slidably movable in said housingindependently of said slide so that movement of said handle during saidpredetermined time interval does not move said slide between itscharging and discharging positions, thereby to assure that only a singlecharge of the soap is dispensed by said dispenser during saidpredetermined time interval.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,182,857 5/1965 Bischolf et al222-477 X 2,288,332 6/ 1942 Steiner et a1 312-39 2,298,882 10/ 1942Grunwald 31239 X 2,299,729 10/1942 Birr 31239 X 2,319,233 5/1943 Hoppe222--181 2,402,707 6/ 1946 Stepar 22215 6 X 3,097,765 7/1963 Newton222-88 X 3,185,190 5/1965 Crawford 222-361 X ROBERT B. REEVES, PrimaryExaminer NORMAN L. STACK, JR., Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

